


Catra the Barbarian

by Her Majesty The Bomb (TargaryenPug), TargaryenPug



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anti Hero Catra, Anti-hero Catra, Barbarian Catra, Barbarian Hero, Blood and Gore, Blood and Violence, Catra (She-Ra) Redemption, Catra Anti-Hero, Catra Redemption, F/F, F/M, Female Anti-Hero, Just give my poor girl a hug ok?, M/M, Poor Catra (She-Ra), Post-Season/Series 02, Somewhat, Strong Female Characters, Swearing, catra escapes the horde
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2020-02-08 15:07:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 11,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18625723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TargaryenPug/pseuds/Her%20Majesty%20The%20Bomb, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TargaryenPug/pseuds/TargaryenPug
Summary: Catra manages to scape Hordak, but now she finds in a new situation; completeley alone and unable to return to the fright zone or go to bright moon; she must survive on her own, and deal with whatever the universe throws at her, she will make her own way.After all, she's got a good set of claws and she's not going down without a fight.





	1. Catra Alone

She had nowhere to go.

She could feel the air fighting around her neck, this was it, she was going to die.

The thought of it made her somewhat sad and somewhat angry; she had dedicated herself to Hordak, and now he was killing her; she gave her everything to Shadow weaver, her soul, her spirit and everything and she still manipulated her, hurt her and chose Adora over her; Adora had abandoned her, she let her to rot after everything they had gone through. Everyone betrayed her eventually, everyone hurt her and turned on her, she was tired.

She had a bad life, now it was time to let go.

Catra close her eyes, hoping it would all be over soon.

 “Just do it quick” She said under her breath, closing her eyes.

 “YOU INSOLENT LITTLE…!”

Hordak’s words where interrupted, the lights turned out, suddenly Catra could breathe again, she fell on her fours and quickly stood up.

 “WHERE ARE YOU!? WHAT’S GOING ON!!” she heard Hordak scream from the top of his lungs, it was dark but she could see, she decided to make a run for it.

She jumped and scratched Hordak’s face and while he was screaming, Catra began to run, she ran as fast as she could through the labyrinths, corridors, hallways and doors; a couple of soldiers where in the entrances of a great door that led to the main wing. The lights returned after a while, but she had already left Hordak’s lab room a long time ago and had almost managed to reach the Fright Zone’s yard.

* * *

 

The soldiers quickly stood in saluting motion “Commander Catra!” they said while remaining very still.

 “Open the doors and let me through, let no one after me, no one else comes out or in; is that understood? “

 “Yes, Commander!!”they said together while they opened the doors, she saluted them back and ran through the yard, she decided not to run towards the area where the vehicles where and instead left straight for the hidden door, the same door where Adora and her went to explore the Whispering Woods, she was still ready to die, but her instincts had somehow kicked in and she’d rather die somewhere else and somehow else.

 

* * *

Catra kept running and running, she ran as fast and as quick as she could, trying to leave anything and anyone behind and if she could loose all human voices, she would be all the better for it, because as soon as she could stop to hear the voices of the soldiers she knew she’d be safe.

Finally, she heard silence…almost, she heard birds and crickets, and some other strange noises, but she couldn’t hear soldiers, she knew that she was far away from the Fright Zone, it took a few good minutes for her to realize she was in the whispering woods.

She had to give in regardless, she had been running more than she had thought possible and her feet hurt like crazy, she was also breathing with certain difficulty and she tried to gasp some air, her hands where on her knees, while she was panting.

She could see a tiny rock not that far, so she walked a little bit and sat down in front of it; with her arms dangling from her shoulders and her legs numb and stretching somewhat loosely.

She took a breath, for a few minutes, she could have sworn she was going to die, suddenly an urge invaded her, not to scratch, not to punch, not to bite, not to unleash her rage into something, but to cry, to cry bitterly and longly.

She put her hands in her face and she began to do just that, cry.

 

 

She ripped her uniform off, and her pants, she threw her badge as far as it could be thrown she ripped all her clothes and in her sadness and anger, some of her fur, and she returned her hands to her eyes, she turned into a little stone herself, burring her head between her legs and her arms around her head so no one could hear her crying.

How could she be so naïve? How could she not know that the universe itself had it against her, that she was never ment to be happy or have anything, not friends, not power, not family and not authority, not even revenge.

She continued to cry until she fell asleep.

She had nowhere to go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, thank you for reading this...you might be wondering..."But Targaryen this is called 'Catra the Barbarian' I was expecting her to flex muscles and break Hordak in half, what is this sad girl bullshit?'" well, it's the begining.
> 
> I will continue working in Grey Cold Inferno and The Return of the Dragons if you are one of the two fans of my other works, as I did when I was working in My Own Reasons I Will Have, but this one will be a bit more expansive than MORIWH; a bit like GCI and TRoD.
> 
> Also, this is my first She Ra fic, How exiting! as of now I've seen the series twice, (Though I have never watched the original) and I just love it, ok?


	2. Kitty Got Claws

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Catra woke up the next morning with a sore back and cold feet."
> 
> Catra needs to survive the day in the forest and learn how to live, and while she's at it...think about what she truly desires more than anything else.

Catra woke up the next morning with a sore back and cold feet.

The first thing she should do was to try to find some source of water; a forest has trees and trees need water to live, so Catra thought that there had to be a lake or river of sorts where she could find said water; but she did spend a good part of her day doing so.

When she finally reached the body of water she drank of it as much as she possibly could, with each lick she swallowed as much water as she could fill in her cheeks and then she swallowed; during this whole time she remained on all fours and she was listening to the forest, to the birds chirping, the bugs...and she hated all of that. She wanted to dig her claws into every bird possible. She finished her drink and she incorporated on her two legs again, the next thing on her list was to get something to eat.

She began walking for a while, hoping she'd find a rat, or a rabbit, or if she were really lucky; a deer. From that she could get some food, some substance, from the bones something else like jewelry or perhaps some paste and at least some globes from the hide; but for that she would need to find something to kill first, and despite being so booming with life, Catra could simply not find anything alive. The Horde never really taught them how to survive in the woods, only how to be soldiers. She was almost ready to give up until her ears picked up something, and she followed the noice and not too long after; her nose picked up something too, she followed her nose and after picking a scent and following it for a while; she could manage to see from afar a Bulldeer.

Catra knew bulldeers were bigger than regular deer, but this one was especially large, there was some moss growing on its antlers and its head looked even bigger than Princess Frosta's entire body. It was a scary creature, but she needed to eat, and she needed the food, so she jumped to face the bulldeer. The creature wouldn't go down without a fight though, while Catra was grabbing its horns with her hands and clawing its face with her feet, the stag violently shook its massive head and stood up on its two hooves.

Catra tried to cling to its neck and meanwhile the Bulldeer began to ram as hard as it could, every tree that could have possibly stood in its way. Catra bit it's neck, the creature stood in its two behind legs, screaming of pain, and furiously trying to get the former Horde Soldier of its back.

Catra wouldn't say that she came out unharmed from that, the massive horns had pierced her left shoulder and scratched her face even if just slightly, for the moment being, her right blue eye was unable to open, as a wound ran across it causing it to bleed; Catra really wished no ill will on the beast, it had never hurt her before, it was a magnificent creature and it even seemed gentle in nature, but she needed to eat, she needed to survive, she needed to have something in her stomach to gather strength so she could recover from what Hordak did to her.

She climbed down to the creature's throat, and she bit it with her sharp fangs and slashed it with her claws, the Bulldeer made a loud cry of agony, it bellowed loudly, Catra climbed up again before the creature collapsed and fell down, Catra was covered in blood, both hers and the Bulldeer's.

She took a moment to recover some breath, panting a little bit and a bit wounded after the attack.

“I...Am sorry...it's not your fault, you don't deserved this...but I needed to live, I...I hope you understand” She said, a bit surprised of the words that came out of her mouth, she needed to live? only a few days back she was ready and willing to die, to end it all once and for all; but now she found out that she'd rather live and she had no idea why.

 

She had no idea why she ran.

 

She dragged the massive body back to the waterhole, pulling the beast by its horns, not without difficulty, but Catra had always been stronger than most humans, or humans, Catra couldn't really tell either what she was.

The next thing she needed to do was to find some shelter, nearby if possible, to light a fire and to drag the Bulldeer there; this process took longer than she wanted it to, the creature's body was perhaps way too heavy, and she dragged it and rested every five minutes, there was also almost no viable source of shelter for the night...almost, she did manage to find a cave by accident, she fell from a small cliff (landing on her feet of course), and found a small cave where she and the Bulldeer would fit perfectly, she even had some leg room and some space should anyone decide to join her and make her company; not that anyone would, people always abandoned her, but nevertheless she was happy she had the space, it was almost like her own room in a way. She exited the cave, climbed up the small cliff while dragging the Bulldeer, threw it over the cliff, descended and dragged it inside the cave.

 

Once there she began to make a fire, this she could do; it was only a matter of seconds, she grabbed a few twitches and thrusting them with one another she managed to make a decent fire, that grew large enough that it could keep the entire cave (if the six people that fit there where there) warm. She then opened the creature’s belly with her claws, trying to save as much flesh and guts as was possible and so she did.

Everything that was edible she ate, she couldn’t remember ever eating that much in her time in the horde, not even as Hordak’s second…the rashers where pretty poor among the soldiers but she suspected that they where even poorer for her, and when she became a force captain and then a commander, she had access to banquets with all sorts of delicious food that she could never tell what but that was always better than the grey paste she ate as a soldier; still it was never quite enough…not like now.

She ate her fill and once she was done, she decided to take advantage of the whole Bulldeer, from the bones she made a sword, not magical like Adora’s, but it would be practical in the future, and some armor; from the hide she made new clothes to keep her warm, she made herself some pants, a pelt and a cloak, and the antlers she used in her cloak’s hood, but she didn’t put any of those on, as her own fur was still covered in blood and she still had some wounds.

Now she had eaten her fill, managed to find some shelter, some fire, some water and something to wear.

 

She was going to sleep and call it a day when she suddenly saw a figure moving outside.

“Who’s there?” she asked.

She kept her hand in the grip of her new sword pointing it at the great outdoors, the foliage kept making noises.

“SHOW YOURSELF!” she demanded.

And from the foliage emerged a large figure.


	3. The fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously, on Catra the Barbarian: 
> 
> Now she had eaten her fill, managed to find some shelter, some fire, some water and something to wear.
> 
> She was going to sleep and call it a day when she suddenly saw a figure moving outside.
> 
> —Who’s there? — she asked.
> 
> She kept her hand in the grip of her new sword pointing it at the great outdoors, the foliage kept making noises.
> 
> —SHOW YOURSELF! —she demanded.
> 
> And from the foliage emerged a large figure.

* * *

 

“SHOW YOURSELF! “she demanded.

And from the foliage emerged a large figure.

Her fears showed before her, it could have been anyone; Shadoweaver, Hordak himself was quite big, bounty hunters, rebellion soldiers, Horde Soldiers...and yet it was worse than all of them...

It was, bigger, stronger, more focused and more capable it was...Scorpia.

“Kitty!” she exclaimed as soon as she saw her, running towards to hug her and crushing her bones in the process…

“Scorpia!” said Catra barely able to breathe through her squished lungs and bones in the point of breaking.

“Sorry!” said Scorpia after she released her; in the past it had annoyed Catra how much Scorpia always apologized for everything, how much she always seemed to be happy, she was almost like a puppy in a way and Catra hated that…at first, right now it felt good, it felt right that someone would think about her in that way, it felt nice…and suddenly a dark thought invaded her mind…what if she’s a spy, what if she was there to capture her and bring her back to Hordak so she would be killed or sent to beast island, she didn’t want to consider such a grim possibility but she had to, for the sake of survival.

“Did anyone sent you?” She asked, with a hint of suspicion and yes, even some malice in her voice… Catra would not risk it, Scorpia had proven before her loyalty, time and time again, but then she was another Force Captain and later she was Hordak’s second in command, she was the grand commander, now she was a fugitive, she needed to make sure, she couldn’t trust anyone, not really.

“No!” Answered Scorpia who sounded a bit hurt by the question.

“I came alone, on my own, I heard what happened and I interrogated a few soldiers, I came looking for you because I heard you were badly hurt and I wanted to help…”

Catra felt bad for asking it, but she needed too.

“You know that by doing that, you are committing High Treason, right? You won’t be able to come back unless you bring me in shackles, because if you do, you will be executed in the spot, or sent to beast island, I don’t understand why would you do it, you are a force Captain, and you have a good position…”

“And all of that is meaningless without you…” she said interrupting Catra, the questions she made seemed to have hurt her, on some level Catra understood, she understood why it hurt, Scorpia had been a constant, loyal to a fault, sometimes Catra even suspected she was in love with her, and to have your loyalty questioned like that…then again, so had Adora at some point.

“How did you find me anyways?” Catra asked, that too had her confused and a little worried, if Scorpia could find her then maybe the Horde could too.

“I’m the Horde’s best tracker, before joining the Horde, me and my father, King Scorpius would go on hunting trips, he taught me how to follow tracks, scents, trails, to look for marks in the trees, in the rocks in the mud…and you left quite a bit of blood in the forest…both yours and what I can only assume is an adult bulldeer…Am I correct?”

Catra then pointed with her head at the carcass, and the hide of white fur she had made along with the sword and the rather lacking “armor” made of the rest of the bulldeer.

“Uhm, the sword looks decent but I’m afraid that of that armor only the helm works, a Bulldeer’s skull is strong but bone isn’t that much of a protection…”

“Thanks” said Catra sarcastically

“No problem!” said Scorpia either unaware of the sarcasm or ignoring it…

“Come in…” Said Catra finally, Scorpia smiled and walked inside the cave and sat across the fire, she opened a bag she had been wearing and from it she pulled a rabbit, already skinned, that she then had put on a stick, which she used to roast the rabbit on the fire, and she ate it…Catra decided then to also sit across the fire and while Scorpia was eating, she tossed the armor, all but the Bulldeer’s skull that would serve her as a helm in the future, into the fire, which grew as she stared at it, she was sitting in front of Scorpia…

Staring at the fire, several thoughts revolved around her head, unsure of what she wanted, though revenge somehow seemed to be a constant in all of them…Revenge…

Of whom though? Hordak? Adora? Shadoweaver?...she needed to clear her thoughts, and a strange thing happened…

“Scorpia?” she asked

“Yes?”

“Is there a town or a village close from here?”

“There is one, a few days walking, but it’s not very friendly with the horde…”

“Doesn’t matter, we are not friendly with the Horde either, we will go there…” somehow, Catra was already formulating a plan, she had no idea where she had gathered the will to do so…but she was ready.

The fire illuminated her face, but the fire in her eyes illuminated the whole cave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, I'm sorry it took me so long, the ending of Game of Thrones left me VEEEEEEEEEERY angy and for a while I focused my fanfic energy on that...and now I'm juggling with four fanfics, one of wich was the angry fic I began working on inmediatly after the finale, wich surprisingly has become a lot more plot based than salt based like it was at the begining.
> 
> Still, I quite like She Ra and I'm still planing to do great things about this fic...so If you are one of the six people who reads this, I apologize for the tardiness, and know that I won't give up on this...also, I could really use a Beta, if you haven't realized by now, English is not my first lenguage and I still have some problems with It that I'm trying to correct; if you are interested, I am "https://hermajestythebomb.tumblr.com/" 
> 
> Anyways...thank you...


	4. Gulltown

Catra would have stuck out like a sore thumb in that place had it not been for the fact that everyone in there looked like a contract killer.

The average person there was at least as tall as Scorpia and had an eyepatch or a missing limb... It wasn't the pristine clear environment of the princess alliance or the clear rigid one of the Fright Zone... So maybe, a skinny girl wearing a Bulldeer's skull and a fur cloak didn't stand out that much. 

It was obvious that the place was not under Horde control, but she much doubted that it was under the Princess Alliance either.

For the smell of the place she could tell she was near Salineas; there was a lot of fish and brine in the air, which on its own smelled quite a bit like saltwater... 

She approached an octopus man that looked a lot like Octavia, he was on a stall cutting meat with a cleaver, so he bareley noticed her approaching and if he did... He didn't turn to look at her, he continued chopping meat.

“Can I help you?” he said gruffly under his breath, he had noticed her, he just didn't turn to see her. 

“I have something I'd like to sell... Some meat and pelts, forty rabbits freshly captured and skinned”

Scorpia had captured them in fact, she had been teaching Catra how to do scout shit... The only reason she hadn't accompanied her was because Scorpia would have stood up even more... She wasn't far though, she was in their camp, not too far from the town. 

“I don't have much silver” 

“they are good pelts, and good meat”

The merchant then stopped cleaving and turned to see Catra for the first time... 

“You look familiar...”

“I don't think so...”

“Show me the pelts and meat” he said. 

Catra then put the pelts on a bundle on the table, careful not to put them near the blood of the table and on the other side she put the meat... The Merchant put in some gloves and passed his hand over the pelts... 

“soft, yes, very soft... These are indeed good pelts...”

He grabbed a leg of one of the meat rabbits and swallowed it whole, not caring if it was raw... 

“The meat is good too...”  He turned to Catra... 

“I'll give you sixty for the pelts, thirty for the meat...”  He said pulling a bag of coins “And a hundred for the one you are wearing”

He ment the bulldeer cloak. 

“this one is not for sale”

“a thousand” he offered... 

“I'm sorry...” She said... He grabbed the coins from the bag and paid her for the meat and pelts... 

“If you change your mind, I'll be here... “

“I'll take it into consideration” Catra said... And with that, she left to buy other things on the town, aware that the merchant followed her with his eyes. 

 

* * *

 

After buying a dagger, some supplies and a belt Catra still had some money left for a drink, she ignored the wanted posters with her face on them, she would continue to come to the town until she had enough money to buy a bike or a horse, since she needed to be somewhere else, and selling the pelts and meat had left her good coin, perhaps she could try to hunt another bulldeer and some ancient ones as well, she had been lucky not to encounter robots or anything, she almost believed for a second that they weren't looking for her.

But that conception changed quickly when she saw two men entering the pub, both in Horde armor with blasters, and visors...she tried not to look at them since they began asking odd questions to the customers there but they didn't seem to notice her, she stood up quietly and walked towards the other side of the tavern where she knew there was an exit for personnel, she almost managed to get away until she heard one of the men through the visors...

“Hey you!” said one of the scouts, his voice distorted through the visors, Catra knew that they didn't recognize her, they just wanted her to identify the woman in the poster but if they saw her face that was bound to change, Catra saw no other choice then...she had to fight...

“Have you seen this...” the soldier didn't manage to complete his question, already Catra was jumping towards his face and with her claws she dug out an eye, not exactly the way she wanted but the soldier was dead...

“STOP THIS!” yelled the other soldier as he began to open fire, and in that moment all the other patrons of the shady tavern bursted into a fight, sword, guns; one of the customers, a gigantic mad with red fur, even pulled up a whip...knocking down several of the other customers.

Still, the second soldier never lost focus, he even managed to call reinforcements... And immediately after that he began to shoot at her; first with the standard issue laser pistol all graduated Horde soldiers got, and when none of those shots got to her, he grabbed a regular bullet gun. 

Catra knew that the laser guns had a large amount of shots, but it wasn't unlimited and once they ran out of juice it was difficult to recharge them, and while regular guns had less ammo, they could be recharged if you had the extra ammo. 

So the soldier began to shoot her again, and she dodged most of the bullets, with a cocky smirk and a confident giggle in her voice, until the last one got to her, thrashing her left shoulder, most of her skin and her muscle but not her bones, then her confident grin became a slightly angry grunt that somewhat showed her fangs... 

In the mist of the chaos, one of the people present there dropped a gun, Catra ran after the gun slighting down to catch it while the Horde soldier ran after her. As soon as she got her hand on the trigger, she pointed at the unknown soldier and pulled her hand on the trigger...

Slightly laughing until she realized that nothing happened, but then she threw the gun at the soldiers head knocking him ever slightly. When this happened, her giggles turned into a slightly annoyed and slightly angry grunt, a grunt that came with a gesture that showed her fangs slightly. She then grabbed the dagger of one of the bar's customers that had so conveniently fallen in front of her and threw it at the soldier who had been shooting at her, knocking him down in the process...

Once he got up to accommodate himself, she jumped at him and pulling her sword from the brand new belt she had bought, stabbed the soldier with it, a grunt of pain came from the unknown soldier, but it ended after he dropped his arms in the ground.

She then pulled up the white sword she had made from the Bulldeer’s bone, and it’s blade was covered in blood…

 

* * *

 

 _“Despite everything, I think I pulled it off"_ Catra thought as she exited the tavern, still with some blood on her shirt and her pants...

 

“Stand Down!” she heard...

She turned to see at least what seemed like a couple hundred of soldiers, in that shit town...she was surprised that they hadn't taken the port, no, those were still scout soldiers...and they were there for her...

“Stand down and come with us, Lord Hordak has ordered us to take you, alive if possible, stand down and you might yet live”

She was either going to be killed by Hordak himself or be sent to beast Island, where she would get killed...

She instinctively almost lifted her arms in surrender...

"If I am going to die, I might as well do it here" she thought when her arms were halfway through the air, then swiftly pulling her sword from her belt, as the soldiers all loaded their laser pistols and pointed at her...

Once she had her sword in hand, she began to laugh, that laugh that she had when she almost captured Adora, she had the look she had when she conquered most of bright moon, when she got promoted to Hordak's second...she was arrogant, and confident and about to die...again...

“Are we doing this?” She asked holding the sword's grip, before charging at them.


	5. I am the stone

The first thing Catra did was jump to one of the soldier's faces, immediately they began to open fire on her, missing most of the shots...there were a few here and there than managed to mess up her fur, one even took a little of her left ear and another burned dangerously close to her face...leaving her right eye hurt.

Catra then released a scream of pain but retook composure, she decided right then and there to simply not open her eye.

She drove her sword on the top part of the soldier's head, through his helmet, the blade ran through his forehead to his chin, and immediately the soldier fell to the ground creating a pull of blood; because it wasn't as slick as steel, Catra pulled out her sword from the soldier's skull with a certain degree of difficulty yanking it a couple of times before being able to pull and remove the sword from the soldier's skull, luckily she could use his body as a human shield because during the time she took to remove the sword from his face she could have been shot several times even with the soldiers being as bad as they were at shooting.

Still, once the body was done, when it had more holes in it than cheese, she threw it at the soldiers, knocking five of them down to the ground and giving her enough time to kill them with the claws on her feet, that made her free to use the claws on her right hand to cut through the flesh and bone of another bunch of soldiers, that she then could easily kill with her bone sword that was now christened in blood.

During that time a couple of shots did managed to reach her, she was indeed a bit less agile and nimble without the blessing of complete peripheric eyesight, and with only one eye open during the entire time she was fighting, she sometimes miscalculated attacks with her fists, her claws and her sword…still, even without it she did managed to take down with her several soldiers on her swoops…

Still, as many men as she managed to take down, which were several, the rest of them remained a lot more, at some point she began to suspect she was about to lose the fight, which created in her the most strange of reactions…laughter, she began to laugh like a maniac while she was covered in blood…blood covered from head to toes, her crimson shirt and pants, her headdress, her fur, it was all covered in blood as was her face. 

She continued to fight the soldiers, fully expecting to fall at any moment down, and while she was killing the people she assumed she had trained and slept with, what she could only assume where familiar faces; her laughter grew ever more hysterical, it reached the height of manic when she straight up disemboweled some unlucky rookie with a defective armor that was easily penetrated with the raunchy sword Catra had made from the bones of a dead bulldeer.

“Well, get on with it already!” she just exclaimed after briefly interrupting her mad laughter, she was fully expecting to die at any moment now, but at least she had put up a fight. 

She did not expect what happened next... 

Some of the soldiers began experiencing an intense shock. Catra shifted the look on her face from a battle lust induced maniac to a young girl shocked, surprised and confused (although calm) as the Soldiers began to twist in the ground, Catra could see the pink and blue rays of lightning and electricity that ran though the bodies of most of the soldiers where twisting in pain and turning on unnatural positions after finally falling…

It was odd, the silence was odd…they were dead…all of them. 

Catra did not want to show it on her face (mostly because she was somewhat grateful that it had happened) but she was also, surprised and a bit confused. 

She knelt briefly next to one of the soldiers she had killed and superficially examined the body with her eyes and without touching it or even poking it, the thought of removing his or her helm passed through Catra’s head a couple of times, she was curious to see who they were, why they had fallen, why they had died when they had the advantage and why did it happen all so…suddenly.

But when her hand was slightly close to the soldier’s helm, she decided not to remove it after all…What if it was someone she knew? What if it was Lonnie? she never liked Lonnie and if her sense was right the feeling was mutual but Catra did not wished to see her dead, less so by her own hand, what if it was Rogelio? Or even Kyle? The captain could have been Captain Grizzlor, he had always been decent to her…or Captain Karsor who had been to Catra nothing but a kind figure…she’d rather not think about it…she decided to leave them the helm on and to not try to figure out why they had fallen so quickly and died of shock… “ _they were probably shock collars_ ” Catra though to herself.

She reminded herself that these soldiers where no longer her problem before trying to leave the place, she probably had drawn too much attention already.

 

* * *

 

The little boy remained there as he saw the strange cat lady leave, his father kept hugging him tight behind the barrel but through its cracks he managed to see the whole conflict.

 

“They are gone I think” said the old man that was hiding besides them, slowly the other residents of the town emerged from their hiding spots, some in barrels, some behind them, one was watching from a turned upside down wooden boat, some others hid behind a turned chariot...

Even the more unappealing of the inhabitants of the place, the drifters, the cutthroats that gathered around the town came out of hiding, in shock and awe of what they had just witnessed...

“Was that...Was that a magicat?” asked the old man, to no one in particular, without expecting any answer to his question.

“Aren't they supposed to be extinct?” asked another townsman, and old man who by the looks of it was either a beggar or a drunk, probably both.

“Lawd above! Yes, I thought they was extinct, I guess I was wrong, innit?” said a plump woman who was hiding behind a couple of large sacks of potatoes.

 

“That was awesome!” said the boy... “She was awesome!” he added, then mimicking playfully the actions that just had happened in front of his eyes.

“Lor' luv a duck! I must confess, what da young barbarian was indeed quite a skilled fighter...and she an' allk off da 'orde from aaahr backs... Know what I mean?” said a fisherman that had been hiding below one of the planks that kept the town afloat

“But who is she?” asked the young boy's father

 

A drifter stood up, he was a reddish lizard man, with a long neck and a slender frame, covered in ragged robes and Ill fitting clothes that bareley allowed his face to be shown...

“Yesss, I saw her...The Barbarian! She is a herald! and I know who she is! C'yra the Barbarian!”

And that night, without her knowing it…Catra became a symbol of the fight against the Horde. 


	6. The Path of the lost souls

She stepped on a twig, and the noise beneath her bare feet made a slight crunch, it was a pleasant sound, but it was a sound she was trying to avoid as she tried desperately to go unnoticed even in the wilds until she reached her home, Catra was walking away as fast as she could without running, she had a severe limp and she was still bleeding somewhat from the conflict but she needed to get as far away from Gulltown as it was possible.

It wasn't an easy task.

She was going to reach her hideout, get Scorpia to grab her things while she would grab her own, head north and split once they were far enough...But she really needed to reach the cave first; she might need to go to near Brightmoon which seemed too risky, but she was almost certain that nobody would be looking for her there.

She managed to reach the cave after some difficulty, though the pain became more prevalent.

She could see with clarity the rock, the trees she had scratched to mark her way home, the pathetic little river that ran through that particular part of the forest and some formations of dirt as well as some bones she had left there that she could recognize.

—Augh— she screamed of pain, after softly putting her right hand on her hip and lifting her hand again she noticed the red taint on her hand…

 _Great!_ She thought bitterly _I’m fucking bleeding, hurray._

It might have been the psychological impact of seeing her wound and her blood, but her walk became slower, the limp became harder to ignore and the feeling that she could faint at any moment became more and more pressing in her mind, lurking on her subconscious and stinging like a wasp.

 _Well, at least I put up a hell of a fight, that was badass as hell_ she thought to herself and with that thought came an involuntary chuckle that made her ribs hurt a little…

It was funny because she had felt no pain during the battle or immediately after, it had been only after she had walked far enough from the town that no one could be casually going there that she began to experience any inconvenience.

 _Laugh when you’re not_ _dying_ she reminded herself, the entrance of her makeshift home was nearer and nearer, at last home...or a version of it...a substitute until she could find or make something better.

She saw the lights emanating from the cave, that even in broad daylight, shone through her eyes, even if they were light sensitive, it was fire, it was unmistakably fire, she had been angry at Scorpia in the past, because the light and the fire could allure to some unwanted visitors, but in that precise moment she was happy to see the lights.

—Scorpia— she yelled faintly when she was only a few feet away from the cave, but once she reached the entrance she saw, Scorpia and someone unknown, a drifter that was casually sitting next to Scorpia with a pewter cup he had on his left hand, a reddish lizard man, with a long neck and a slender frame, covered in ragged robes and Ill fitting clothes who had a hood laying on the back of his shoulders allowing his face to be seen; he had a long elegant muscle, with a single fang that stood out of his snout and what almost looked like a mustache.

—SCORPIA! — Catra yelled, her eyes dilated, her claws elongated and all the fur in her body became spiked and rigid

—Catra! — she answered with her usual emotion of excitement and happiness.

Catra’s heart began raising as fast as it could, she was certain she had seen him before, she clenched her fists so tightly that her claws dug into her hands making them bleed, her hideout wasn’t as secure and safe as she had thought, she could hear an increasing noise in her ears that overfuscated everything, a noise that came over her senses, that man was just there casually sitting by the fire…

—Catra? — Scorpia asked.

—Catra! — The grifter yelled in his guttural raspy voice.

Catra fainted…

* * *

It only hurt a little when she woke up, she had hit her head when she hit the ground but her other injuries actually hurt less.

 

—You're awake! — Scorpia exclaimed with a mixture of worry, happiness and relief in her voice.

—I guess I am— Catra answered in a dry tone, Scorpia's friendly demeanor and sincerity were genuine, that much Catra could tell, but maybe she ought to ditch her as soon as she could.

—Good! — said the stranger, —we have much to catch on—

 

—On what exactly, and I'm sorry but...who are you? were you sent by the horde? the princess alliance? are you here to kill me? have you been following me? what the hell do you want from me?—

The stranger quickly swallowed a piece of meat, chuged down on a pewter mug as quickly and loudly as he could and then graced them with an answer —Org Lashor, brother of Rattlor and Tung Lashor, no, no, no , yes and a lot that I need to explain to you but I need you to calm down...—

Catra tried to comply but it was difficult for her.

She sat down by the fire and grabbed the leg of something that was already dead, skinned and roasted and began to bite on it, after swallowing a single bite she asked...

—So, why were you looking for me?— she asked, trying to convey as little emotion as was possible and failing miserably.

—You are the last magicat, I was sent to look for you by someone who is now deceased, and then I heard that you have just left The Horde and it became easier to look for you, already you are making quite a reputation for yourself, they call you "The Barbarian" in certain areas...not very discreet, are you? worry not, they do not remember you from...burning their villages...but they know you killed a lot of Horde soldiers...and then I saw you in Gulltown...that was impressive...Gulltown may be the shittiest town in Salineas but already the word spreads from there...And I, Org Lashor, have come here to look after you, though it seems like you don't need much looking after...— he said in a smug faux friendly matter…there was something in the way he smiled that Catra could not and did not desire to trust entirely, of course the direct look and the stare went away as soon as he continued to chug down in the meat he had in his mouth when Catra had begun her conversation with him.

 

It was hard for Catra to process all she had just heard to that moment, but she tried to keep a stoic face to not show her shock or mix of emotions.

—So, you are not with the rebellion? — she asked

— Yes and no, I'm part of _A_ rebellion but not THE… Princess rebellion, I hail from a land that still hasn't been touched by the horde, but there have been some attacks as of late, no Princesses there though, so we made our own rebellion from scraps, most of us are former bandits— he said with what appeared to be pride, there were very few places in the entirety of Brightmoon that had not yet been touched by the war or by the horde’s expansion, they were either very far away from the Dread Zone or very Hostile and he had to come from one of these places, at times like this Catra almost wished she had gone to Force Captain Orientation because she would know wich of this places they ment or what their name was.

—And this place is...— Catra asked without asking, trying to fish information out of the stranger she did not and could not trust.

—Arteas; it extends from the Crimson Waste to the Land of Shards... It's also near your place of origin— Said Lashor in his raspy voice but what was that fool talking about? None of what he was saying made any sense at all, the name Arteas sounded familiar to her but she did not know where from, it frustrated her to no end.

—About that...you mentioned "Magicats" what is a Magicat...— Catra inquired, she was almost certain this man was insane and making it all up but she needed to dig out as much information as she could.

—Well— said the lizard... —You...have you not noticed anything...different, about your features? — he asked.

—Like what? — Catra was beginning to grow irritated…

—Like, you are not human? —

 

It stunned Catra, most of the people she knew were not human…She could count the humans she knew; Lonnie, Adora and Kyle and about Adora she was uncertain, it was rather obvious she wasn’t human but what was this lizard trying to imply?

—Yeah, a lot of people are not human, what do you mean?— she asked trying to keep her tone of disinterest and passive-aggressiveness, trying really hard not to make the snake man noticed that she was really confused by what he was saying.

—Ok, let me rephrase that, have you noticed that there’s no one around that really looks like you? And I don’t mean scrawny, I mean there are Asters1, lots of them, Arquelians2 like me, my brother an…—

 _Rogelio_ , Catra thought

—Then there are humans and then the princesses which technically kind of are human but not really aaaand then…you…—

—Ok, so what, what now? If I’m the last one, what use does know that have to me? — she had no connection to anything, perhaps hearing this should make her enraged or sadden but she had never really given any thought about it, no one ever made too much a deal about it and it wasn’t like the Horde didn’t have an enormous diversity among it’s soldiers, but it was obvious that Orb Lakar ment something different and was perhaps expecting a bigger reaction from her, Catra could see the lizard man disappointed but she did not desire to give anything away.

—Well, plenty…because it comes with certain…useful abilities, I am well aware that I can no longer claim the reward that was being offered since there would be no one to cash it from…but I can certainly help you with a few things you have an untapped potential for— he said, without really paying attention to her.

—And why would you do that? — she asked, that was the question she really wanted answers to, what the hell did they want with her?

—First, because I promised I would find you alive and Org Lashor is a man of his word, second and more frankly…because I’m bored, and I hate the horde…what do you say kid? —

—I suppose I have nothing to lose— she said, and until the night came, they all followed the evening as usual until it reached night.

But when the night came, Catra only pretended to fall asleep, she kept an eye in the lizard man for good measure.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1.- The goat and Deer people of She-Ra, I know they technically don't have a canon name but I gave it to them  
> 2.- The Lizard people; Tung Lazhor and Rogelio in canon; but also Org Lazhor and others


	7. Greatest that never lied

In the morning Catra shed the last of her old Horde uniform or clothing...the pants and the shirt she had worn since she had memory...they were part of an old version of herself that was trying desperately to kill her, still she would have not gotten rid of her old badge of clothes if Org hadn’t offered a new… The loose baggy silk pants where not as flattering to her figure as her old leggings had been (or even her first horde uniform), but they allowed a certain freedom and the silk really did feel good when it surfaced her skin and the thin coat of fur that covered it.

The tunic was slightly different, it was not only flattering but also elegant in a weird sort of way, and it felt good against her skin, the only other time any sort of clothing had fitted her so well was when she had dressed for the Princess Prom… It was a costume, but it had been the first time she had used a fabric that felt soft.

“Good morning Princess!” Said Org Lashor, he was waiting just outside, making some sort of broth, that Catra would have been able to smell even if she didn’t have any refined sense of smell, it was such a potent smell that Scorpia could smell it too, Catra could look at her inside the cave twitching in her sleep and smelling desperately as possible.

“Okay” Said Catra “A few rules if you are to accompany me, first off...I’m not a Princess, okay?” Catra demanded.

“It sounds better than “Barbarian”, but as you wish” he said teasingly

“Yeah, I’m not a Barbarian either, I’m a trained Horde Soldier, an Elite Soldier at that, and high ranking too…” Catra was growing irritated with her new companion and she did not know what to make of him, but she was certain that he was trying to mess with her head; either he was a spy for the Horde or the Rebellion (neither too convenient for her) or he was a madman...Catra could not imagine who could have been this mysterious benefactor that had attracted the services of Lashor, and maybe it was someone interested in her status as Force Captain or worse, the lack there off...

“You were, you are no longer, and the people call you Barbarian...though I agree, you are perhaps too scrawny to be a Barbarian…”

“ Look if you want to stay you are gonna have to keep shut your smart mouth and earn your keep otherwise I can just ditch you and Scorpia and go on my way” she said with growing irritation...Org Lashor did not answer, he held this smug look on his face, a weird smile and those bright yellow eyes that stared at her with haughtiness she hated.

He handed her a bowl of broth...it was a weird soup...it was creamy and it had leeks, garlic and fish heads… it looked less appetizing than anything else she had eaten since she left the horde and still somehow it was making her hungry enough to try it, and strangely enough...she felt it was delicious…

 

Immediately losing all regard for etiquette, Catra drank the soup like most would drink water, leaving only in the bowl the fish heads and chunks of meat she hadn’t seen that she began to devour as soon as possible, Org Lashor talked while she did all of this.

“I can assure you, former Force Captain...that you will never meet someone as devoted and loyal as your humble servant Org Lashor, except perhaps the big one...Scorpia!!... you can ditch either of us if that is truly what you desire but I do not think it is...loneliness is a horrid thing and we both could keep you from going insane like most hermits do, besides...you are an outlaw now, you are an expert on being a soldier and I am an expert on being an outlaw, you might need me to teach you a few things here and there, I’m sure that you could learn on your own but having a teacher is always useful...and I know about things you can do that you might not know much about”

“Yeah…” said Catra swallowing the last of her breakfast “That’s the thing...what abilities? I already know how to fight and I’m damn good at it, what else could it be? to use my claws? my smell?”

“Things that you cannot be taught by a soldier…” he said mysteriously…

“BUT WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN!?”

“Patience!” advised Lashor “It will come in time, I promise, I said I would teach you things and I will, Org Lashor is a man of his word, but it will have to wait…until then I’d suggest you ditch your headpiece in the meantime, you are too recognizable with it…”

 

She didn’t truly want to though, it was useless, but it made her feel cool...it had hidden some scars she had, it was also part of her identity...it was the only object she has ever been attached to since she had memory… Perhaps Lashor sensed it before quickly adding…

“Merely a suggestion, Boss, I’m certain we are going into a long journey… But I’m here to follow your command...Force Captain” The way in which he said the last two words made her uneasy again…

 

Scorpia finally woke up.

 

“It smells soooo good!!” she said while stretching herself as much as her exoskeleton allowed her to…

“It’s breakfast! help yourself!!!” Suggested Org Lashor with a small gesture of his hands, Scorpia didn’t needed to be told twice, she left the cave and sat just across them in a hurry, like Catra she also drank the soup rather than eating it with the spoon but in Scorpia’s case it was evident that she simply could not hold a spoon with her claws, and she drank the soup in a way more elegant and fashionable way than Catra had done.

“So where now Wildcat?” Asked Scorpia after she finished her meal…

“Away from here, if we stay too long, they will track us down, we need to find refuge and go somewhere else…” Catra said to her new teammates…

“If you allow me, boss, I might have a suggestion to where to go next…” 

 

* * *

 

“How did the interrogation go?” asked Glimmer hopeful, they had been dangerously close to losing in a major way and they needed to know Catra’s next steps...during their last mission they had captured a Horde soldier, not too familiar to Adora, to interrogate him...to see if they could bring some information that could be of some help...most of the Princess Alliance had been against the plan, the fact that Brightmoon did not have any prisons was by itself a huge problem but other factors like the disapproval of Queen Angella and the possible advantage they could have if the soldier were to break free was also a factor...They could have just as easily asked Shadow Weaver who was now their strangely willing prisoner, but they did not want to...they all thought a random soldier could be a more reliable source of information.

Glimmer needed, at all costs, to hear any semblance of good news or at least something useful for future battle plans.

“Nothing he said made sense…” said Adora and Glimmer immediately groaned…

“Agh! we must be accursed or something, why does the universe conspire against us?”

Almost ignoring Glimmer’s complaints Adora continued, speaking as if she were talking to herself…

“He said that Catra was not their commander anymore, he made a lot of ramblings, he mentions a barbarian and a lot of dead soldiers near Salineas…”

“Salineas? “ this peaked Glimmer’s attention…

“I have to investigate what’s going on…” she said determined…

“Great, when do we leave?” asked Bow.

“No! I’m going alone...with Swift wind...I need to find out on my own how much of this is true and how exactly, you two have more important things to do...please stay here and trust me on this one” Adora begged…

“We are here if you need us…” said Glimmer…

“Thank you!” Adora said and with that she ran towards the stairs to leave discretely on the night, in a secret mission to find out what was happening in the Horde.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yes, I saw season 4...I'm up to date but I started this fic near S2...
> 
> So, if you comment on this fic I might write something post season 4, because holy shit that was a cliffhanger...but you gotta click that button and leave a comment...Hope you liked this chapter...


	8. The Undisputed Truth

Catra was being extremely careful not to leave tracks, tracks would create unwanted attention which would lead to either a group of soldiers or someone dumb enough to try to make his or her fortune with her, she had now a price on her head and was well aware of it, and since the last few years, Bounty Hunters had become bolder and more desperate, enough perhaps to try their luck with her.

Scorpia too, was being careful not to leave tracks, but Org…

She didn’t want to say anything, perhaps she’d just kill him or throw him under the tank if they came face to face with any soldier or bounty hunter.

Thus moving across such a narrow way became the last thing on Catra’s mind, there was probably an easier and safer way through the

“Soooooo….” Began Scorpia, clearly dying to ask a question, but waiting for Catra to give her a clue which annoyed Catra…

“Where are we going” asked Scorpia, trying not to sound too desperate.

“To the Crimson Waste…” said Catra

“Why?” asked Scorpia.

“Simple!” Intervened Org Lashor… “It’s on the path of the place we need to go, it doesn’t have too many people, people are rowdier there so we can blend easily aaaand…the Horde doesn’t have a presence there”… It was strange for both Catra and Scorpia to avoid the Horde since until recently both were members of it and high ranking officers too…

 _When I see him again, I will dig my claws into his neck, I will pull out the crystal from his armor and them pull from his chest his heart with my bare hands_ Catra though to herself, she had led him to victory, how dare he treat her that way? But Hordak wasn’t the only one on Catra’s hit list…She had helped Shadow Weaver, even after everything, despite the cruelty and she had betrayed her yet again, it was her fault for being so trusty.

 

“We are far enough from the Horde’s usual patrol routes to take a break, aren’t we?” asked Scorpia, and Catra agreed, though not out loud.

They had walked since the morning of the previous day after the hearty breakfast of cheese and fish soup.

Catra had to admit she was enjoying the varieties and the flavors after she left the horde, Raw Meat, Fish, Cheese…it all tasted so different and so much better than the ration bars she had been used to all her life, even as a Force Captain the food had remained much the same, she did not miss the food of the Horde, nor the atmosphere, or the beds, or how everything inside was always green…but she did miss the power and the chance of proving herself, it had been the only thing to fill the hole inside her heart since Adora had left her, but there was something about life as a nomad, life in the wild that she had not experienced before that she had to admit she liked…the freedom, the air and the power to just be, perhaps it was just some wild animal inside of her that she had never realized, was yearning to be free.

“Yeah” Agreed Catra “I think we can rest” …

“Excellent idea, boss!” Issued Org, and Catra remained unsure as to why this man continued to be her bootlicker if she was not worth any reward any longer.

“Great! I’ll go get some wood and some supplies” exclaimed Scorpia…

“There doesn’t seem to be much near that can be edible…” added Catra “But I have some ration bars, you take the grey ones and I take the brown ones”… she offered, unlike Lashor, Scorpia was someone who Catra knew she could rely on, and she deserved a better friend…It wasn’t much, it was a small action, even if the brown bars did taste like vomit, but she had followed her from the Fright Zone when she did not have…

“Such a noble offer of you, boss, but it will not be necessary, I still have some rashers, some cheese, still a bit of fish  and some bread, stale as it might be, that can be better sustenance for all of us…”

“Very well, then I shall go for the wood with Scorpia…” offered Catra.

“No need, no offence Wildcat, but I doubt you know how to find wood in the wild and you are still injured, I’ll go, you stay here with Org and try to work on the fire…”

 _Fine_ She thought _I’ll stay with Lashor, maybe I can get an answer of him somewhere._

 

“So…” she stared at him, he was smiling as usual, and Catra hated that…since she had met him she could not remember a moment in which he was not smiling…and it made her fur stand on the end, and she did not wish to show it but her tail sometimes gave her away.

“So…” he said, without looking at her, scraping the mold from the last bits of Cheese with a dagger he had pulled from the scabbard in his belt, a plain iron dagger with a blue hilt and no decoration, quite old by the look of the blade, not even paying attention to the iron pot in which he had cooked the previous meal, the pot he had carried since she had met him.

“What are the Magicats?” asked Catra when she finally gathered the courage to do so…she kept her eyes fixed on Lashor who first had a perplexed expression and then changed his face to that of the happiest man on earth, still with the grin on his face that Catra so detested.

“You said that it was what I am, and I have no idea what you meant when you said that, and as confused as I am, I wish to know, I never questioned these things when I was in the Horde…” she added before Lashor could answer.

“And right you are, to ask these things…The Magicats were a people of Etheria, connected to the heart as much as any other Etheria, one of the oldest tribes in fact…When the Horde first appeared on Etheria, it was the Magicats who fought them first…they hailed from Halfmoon, and they were fierce fighters…Lot’s of people called them Barbarians, and when they were around The Horde could hardly make any move…they fell from the mountains and left no survivors…Warrior folk they were…they never dared join the rebellion and eventually got overrun by the Horde…ruthlessness and pure bravery can get you far… but not as far as having tanks and guns, as you might know…Force Captain…”

 

He interrupted his explanation briefly to grab a bug from the ground and swallow it whole…while Catra watched horrified as he did so.

 _Bug Eater_ … he noticed Catra staring back at him, so he vomited part of the insect and offered it to Catra…

“Want some?” he asked

“No thanks…” she said, with a hardly concealed look of disgust, that he either did not mind or did not noticed, for he grabbed the rest of the insect and swallowed it again, leaving a trail of drool on his tunic, that luckily for Catra, never reached the pot or the cheese.

“Where was I? oh yes…besides being fierce warriors, the Magicats were also skilled sorcerers, for they had this untapped connection with Etheria, not quite on level with, say, a Princess…but closer than most people…and yet the Horde had weapons, their numbers began to dwindle with the time, and the last of the Magicats died when King Felix of Halfmoon, not long after the tragic death of the Ruling Queen on battle, lead a desperate assault on a regiment to the Northern Reach…”

“The Northern reach? I’ve been there, I was there on a mission to gather tech…there was no one to guard post…”  
“Not now, but it used to be an important base for the Horde…” added Lashor…

“Then, how did they reach there without being detected? How did they manage to get to the Northern Reach without being seen?”

“Nobody quite knows, young Barbarian, some say it’s magic…but King Felix wasn’t a magic user…it doesn’t matter anyways…they all died, some claim that a few survivors have been spotted here and there, a friend of mine said he saw one in Salineas…But proof there is none…”

The mood was quiet…that had left Catra with more questions than answers, but she did not want to press it with Lashor, who she still couldn’t trust entirely.

Scorpia returned not too long after, and indeed she was carrying several logs of wood, way bigger than their bag of supplies…it made Catra realize how strong Scorpia was.

 

“Oh man! Uh…well, there is enough wood, and nobody seems to be tracking us so, we’re good…Oh Catra…Uhm, I had some spare wood so I carved this, it was difficult, having no fingers and all, but at the end I did manage…” It was a small figurine, of a girl with cat ears and a mane, maybe her but maybe not, maybe it was just another Magicat…holding a sword, the carving was rustic but it awakened something in Catra, a sense of belonging, she felt her eyes wet and quickly dried her tears before giving anything away.

“Thanks, Scorpia…it was beautiful…” she said, after she took the small figurine from Scorpia’s pincers…and it made her feel warm.

A sense of belonging…was that the thing she had been missing all her life?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, I had finals...anyways...happy holidays and all that...I'm still measuring where this story will go, but the basic core remains...Catra as a barbarian hero...and a little chat before the next chapter, because I will get crazy with the action. Anyways, I might upload another chapter before the Hollydays and then wait a little, good? good! thanks for sticking with my weird ass fiction, I promise Catra will be less of an asshole in the future.


	9. Rain Water

Gulltown was a terribly confusing place.

It was technically a part of Salineas, but there seemed to be no presence from Mermista's people, and it looked… rowdier.

Still, there was no Horde presence either. It appeared lawless in a way, even when that wasn't… entirely… the case.

Even with her "disguise" Adora stood out like a sore thumb, she had ditched her red jacket and grey combat pants, traveling only in some ugly jeans, a tank top and old combat boots. In her belt she still kept her sword (hidden in a scabbard so it would not cause suspicion) and of course, she kept her dagger on the other side of her hip. She tried to blend as much as possible among the crowd, she could hear various chants that screamed "meat! We have cheap meat", "fish, fish fresh fish", "dairy!" And "weapons! We have good weapons” Adora had to tune out a lot of the noise.

Most of the people there looked like contract killers, and even before joining the Princess Alliance, Adora would have stood out in the croud...it was perhaps the bright blue eyes, or blonde hair, or the stiffness in her posture...Adora looked like a soldier, that much could never be changed, that was what she was, but she also looked too...like someone who’d fit in the Princess Alliance.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a twitch in her communicator, she turned to see the screen in her wrist, wich was making a lot of noise and attracting a lot of unwanted attention.

"Yeah, like I've been trying to get in touch with you for like, a while… " Said Mermista in her usual irritable, almost angry voice...she always sounded upset, but Adora had gotten to learn that once you got to know Mermista, you’d realize she was always upset...though a good person.

"Sorry, Mermista… " Adora half apologized to the Princess on the communicator, with a sheepish smile.

"Whatever, don't ever leave me hanging like that again!" Argued Mermista maintaining her deadpan voice, Adora then saw Mermista being shoved aside by Swiftwind.

"Hey Adora! How are you hanging there? Are you sure you don't want me there?"

"Yes, I'm sure of it…" said Adora through her teeth, half trying to dissimulate, half angry at Mermista and Swiftwind who came dangerously close to blowing her cover, she was already attracting too many stares from the local people.

"Are you sure? Because I could be really useful, I am your trusty steed after all… " insisted Swiftwind, with the usual teatrallity of his voice.

"Thanks but no, I'm trying to blend in, a talking winged unicorn would get my cover blown in a minute… "

"Whatever you do… " said Mermista as she was shoving Swiftwind out of the frame, despite the latter's resistance… "make sure you don't damage my town, I don't have enough staff to like, repair it soo… " Mermista had been struggling even after joining the alliance, Salineas was by far the most understaffed of the kingdoms and with so many of Mermista’s people rather busy on the war, they were spreading thin over the territory, and a place like Gulltown didn’t rank high in the list of priorities...thus why it was needed to keep it...“safe”

Adora cut communication before they could expose her further… she had a mission and she wouldn't let herself be exposed, slightly lost in her thoughts she bumped into some pedestrian.

"Sorry" she said.

"No worries stranger" the pedestrian was quite large and covered in hair, with a couple of fangs sticking out of his jaws, thick of hair and beard… he looked an awful lot like Force Captain Grizzlor, but with tattooed arms.

"The mood seems festive, huh? " inquired Adora

"Yeh, Not gunna lie, it's been quite good since tha barbarian came to 'ake the horde of our backs, today we're celebratin"

At last, a mention Adora was waiting to hear.

"A Barbarian? "

"Aye, she dropped from out of no'ere, killed a battalion of Orde soldiers and left, bloody mess 'at was… but we free now, we're celebratin' er… "

"Aren't you under the protection of the Princess Alliance, Where is Princess Mermista?"

"Damned If I know, I only know the Princess Alliance has been doin nuthin in this town… I can't say I blame 'em… but the Barbarian saved us" at least she wasn't with the Horde, and Adora that it wasn't a Horde plot.

"Where did she go after?" she asked rather impatiently.

"What are ye, a cop? She dissapeared" said the Grizlor clone.

She decided to not press much further, and left alone the pedestrian.

She later left, she got information here and there from pedestrians, fishermen, merchants, drunks and some from the man who lived in a barrel next to the pub; and still she learned little…

No one knew who this stranger was, Adora knew they called her “The Barbarian” for some reason she never could quite explain, and the reports were rather conflicting.

One man claimed she was the ghost of queen C’yra of the magicats, who came down from the mountains to avenge them, there were two problems here...first, what the hell were the magicats? C’yra also sounded made up and it obviously wasn’t a ghost; someone said it was a lost princess of some kind, other man claimed it was a rabid beast…

The more she asked the less this tales made sense, and they were truly senseless...the last person she asked, a little boy who claimed to have seen the incident, also said that the Barbarian was that...A Barbarian that came to deliver justice into the evil horde.

The least credible account, was coming from an old man that swore that it was a former Horde soldier who killed all those other Horde soldiers, the man was an old fisherman who was repairing his boat and at times spoke to himself at times.

“She used her claws to slice them open, truly a thing to see…” said the old man before he bursted into laughter, and to that...Adora decided to leave him be, and the more Adora knew about the Barbarian the less things made sense, she knew only got to find out a couple of things, the “Barbarian” had been there only a couple of days before leaving, likeley north...and the fact that there had been a slaughter of Horde soldiers from a party that was neither from the Horde neither from the alliance. This thing she learned from eavesdropping on the apparent only authority of the town, an old man who had proclaimed himself to be the sheriff and had missing an eye and a leg.

And that was what she could get.

In all the long day of research, she discovered almost nothing...So she decided to spend a few days more in the town, she rented a small room in the tavern, she took a small dinner composed of a grotesque soup made out of fish heads and cheese, an old piece of fruit and beer, since apparently no one in that town drank water… the dinner was better than the ration bars, but Adora had lived in Brightmoon long enough to know how good food was supposed to taste; she didn't complain… she went up the stairs to go to her room, and out for a second she saw a Horde "Wanted" poster, there were several in the walls of several individuals that the Horde wanted... it was only a second but right away she picked it up to look at it for a while, she would have ignored it...posters of the Horde's fugitives weren't uncommon, even in places like Gulltown, and this one she would have filtered like the others, if it weren't for the face that was shown on the poster… it was Catra's.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is a short chapter and for that I'm sorry, I wanted to add another segment, but then I felt like this one should focus on Adora more...  
> In the future the chapters will be longer. 
> 
> And I think I will include more of the other characters... Yes, including the communist horse. But also the princesses, the Horde squad...maybe Double Trouble in the future...who knows?
> 
> So, I wanted to update before the new year, that wasn't possible because a) I wasn't in the city b) My computer remained in repair and c) Country roads, Take me hooooooooome....by which I mean I had no internet connection.
> 
> This chapter took longer than I expected so please be gentle with me and...Happy new year.


End file.
